Early Learning Care Graduate Outcomes 2013-2017

On January 11, The Central Statistics Office (CSO) published a new report that investigates the outcomes, employment sectors and earnings of graduates who completed an Early Learning Care (ELC) course. This work is part of the efforts of the Workforce Development Plan, which began in 2019 and is expected to be completed in 2021. The analysis is based on the Educational Longitudinal Database (ELD), which is a framework for analysing graduate outcomes and learner pathways using administrative data.

Results show that among 2017 graduates, 84% found substantial employment one year after graduation. This is an increase of 18 percentage points compared to 2013 graduates. Also, the most common sector for graduates was the Early Learning and Care sector. In the first year after graduating, 73% of 2017 graduates were in this sector, up from 59% for those who graduated in 2013. A third of graduates who worked in the Early Learning and Care sector had more than one job in the first year after graduation – and within this group, 43.7% had additional jobs in sectors other than the Early Learning and Care sector.

The median weekly earnings among all 2017 graduates from Early Learning and Care courses was €340. But this varied according to the sector that graduates worked in. Graduates that found work in the Early Learning and Care sector had median weekly earnings of €345, while those working in non-Early Learning and Care Health and Education sectors had slightly higher earnings of €360 per week. Those working in all other sectors (neither Early Learning and Care nor Health or Education) had the lowest weekly earnings of €305 per week. Earnings were found to depend on the NFQ level of a graduate’s qualification. Among those graduating with a Level, 8 degree in 2017 the median weekly earnings in the first year was €395, which was €100 per week greater than for those graduating with a Level 5 qualification.

Graduate numbers increased from 4,100 in 2013 to 6,640 in 2017. Much of this growth occurred at NFQ level 6 and NFQ level 5. This is related to new qualification requirements in the sector, with a minimum level 5 required for working in pre-school and a minimum level 6 for working as a room leader in the Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE) government program.

The vast majority of learners in Early Learning and Care courses are female (about 97%). The age profile of graduates has changed substantially over the period studied. For example, the total number of graduates aged 35 and over has almost trebled in the space of four years while the number in the 15-24 category has changed relatively little.

Early Childhood Ireland supports all initiatives that are aimed at promoting evidence-based policymaking. Last month we launched a report that analysed pay and working conditions in the early years sector. The launch seminar is also available here. Most importantly, we believe that this new year  is key to putting all the valuable knowledge produced into action.